Happy faces

Ah yes - First Holy Communion. Don't those words bring it all back? The excitement, the preparation and then the Day. Anxious teachers, proud parents - and boiled eggs for breakfast if, like me, you are of a certain age. Big White Veils went out a little in the eighties, but seem to be back in now.

And then soon after there was Corpus Christi, and maybe a school trip to Bristol Zoo (I remember enjoying myself so much there one day that I cried almost all the way home!) One mum at First Holy Communion in Christ the King today said she had tears all the way through our Mass - and she is just one of the catechists! Yes it has it all, doesn't it as a happy day, and it shows on the children's faces.

Seven and eight are such lovely ages - past the initial blank pages of the first few years, but not too scribbled over by life, as they soon will be. When seven to nine year olds look up at you when you are preaching to them, they seem to absorb every word. Earlier in the week I celebrated Mass with Year 4 and told them the story of the apparitions of Our Lady at Guadalupe in Mexico. I could feel 30 pairs of eyes fixed intently on me, and loads of them wanted to ask questions. I had explained that nobody knows how the image of Mary is imprinted on the cloak of Juan Diego which is preserved at the shrine of Guadalupe in Mexico City. One bright angel, however, had that one sorted. She told me that maybe Our Lady would come back and explain it for us! Brilliant...